Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alum Rachel Damon ’05, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Design BA program, will debut her new dance film Leverage on Saturday, January 23, as part of the In/Motion International Dance Festival 2021. Presented entirely online, this year’s In/Motion Festival focuses on the importance of dance film as activism. Leverage grapples with the challenges of creativity, gender, and an embodied sense of overwhelm, by giving four women dancers agency to conceal or reveal their own bodies. Here’s a trailer for the film:

Rachel Damon

Damon, co-founder and director of the Chicago-based dance-theatre company Synapse Arts, created Leverage in collaboration with Aaron Greer, and the film’s 1 PM showing will be followed by a live conversation with Damon, Greer, and members of their production team about their process of making the film: how they adapted choreography from stage to film, how sound and lighting elements altered the journey, and how each person influenced the project. The program is free, but advance registration is required. To register for the film showing and followup conversation, click here.